Trials of the Heart: Nick and Madison
by angel17712
Summary: This is going to be all 60 themes from the Ars Amatoria Romance Theme Challenge, done for Nick and Maddy.
1. Impressions

Author- angel17712

Date- 12/1/06

Disclaimer: I don't the characters or the show.

Thanks goes out to PinkGreenWhite4ever! thanks for the help and encouragement!

Nick's POV

They say that first impressions always stay with you, that they're long-lasting. And for awhile, I thought that was true. My first impression of Madison was that she was shy, as though she were meeting someone who she had never talked to before. The curiosity came next, rearing along with it a vicious bout of nosiness. I was surprised by the fact that she was being so forward with me, a guy that she had just met the same day. I was intrigued by her, and decided to humor her by answering her questions.

"_So while we're out in the world fighting evil, what are you gonna do?" she asked._

"_Well first, I'm gonna fix my bike, then head to my grandparent's and see if I can live there instead of with my sister in Briarwood," I told her._

"_Mm, no parents?"_

"_Uh, you are nosey. Yes, I have parents. They're working overseas for a few years. I was living with my cousins for awhile, then my uncle, and now my sister."_

"_It must be hard leaving friends all the time," she said sadly._

"_I usually don't stay around long enough to have friends," I told her as I looked down, avoiding her eyes._

"_You know, you could…I mean, you could stay somewhere longer. You know, like here, maybe," she said uncertainly._

She walked away shyly, and with a hint of awkwardness at having been so forward. I later realized that she had wanted me to stay and I could have hit myself. She had just wanted to be friends, and I had told in no certain words no. She was shy, that much was obvious. She was a good fighter, and she was fiercely protective of people that she cared about. As we fought side by side as a team, I quickly found out that there was much more to Madison Rocca than what met the eye.

Madison's POV

If there was one word that be used to describe Nick Russell when I first met him, it would be loner. There are lots of other words that could describe him: cute, sweet, funny, the list goes on and on. But the word loner stuck out poignantly in my mind. After he told me that he had been shifted around and that he had moved so much, I wanted him to stay here in Briarwood. I wanted to get to know him better for some odd reason, the real Nick beneath the mask that he put up. Normally, I would have never been as forward with a stranger as I was with Nick, but for some inexplicable reason, I felt like I had known him my entire life. I felt drawn to him from the beginning. We were like two complete opposites: oil and vinegar, yin and yang, fire and water. When I walked away from him after he had told me that he wasn't planning on staying, I felt as though my heart had been broken, and I didn't know why. 'You just met the guy, Madison! What are you doing feeling this way about him?' my head screamed at me. I knew that it was silly, and yet I didn't care.

When he decided to believe in magic and become a Ranger, my heart swelled with the hope that he would stay. And he did stay, unknowingly mending my heart. I was elated that he had decided to stay. Maybe we could become friends, or something more. Maybe my first impression of him could change.


	2. Quest

Quest

Author: Angel17712

Date: 12/15/06

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the show, nor am I in any way affiliated with them.

A/N- Sorry, everyone. I meant to put at the top of the first chapter that it was right after Broken Spell. This one is set for right after Code Busters. Thank you SO much to Pink-Green-White-4ever for helping me to edit this! You rock!

Madison sat at the large table in Rootcore, rolling her shoulders. She definitely liked being a Ranger, and being able to use magic, except for the downside to the situation, which was having to fight evil on a daily basis. Fighting evil hurt like nothing else, and Madison was feeling that pain right now.

Nick walked into Rootcore and saw his friend sitting at the table. He came up behind her and grabbed her shoulders, making her scream and nearly jump out of her skin.

"Geez, what are you trying to do, give me a heart attack?" said Madison as she caught her breath. Nick sat down in the chair next to hers.

"Maybe, maybe not. Did it work?" said Nick with an impish grin.

"No," Madison shot back.

"That's good." Nick looked around Rootcore, noting how quiet it was. "Where is everyone?"

"Let's see," said Madison, as she began counting people off with her fingers. "Udonna and Clare are in the forest, collecting things for a potion. Xander and Chip are at home, and Vida's at home resting."

"Is she all right?" Nick asked worriedly.

"She'll be alright; she's just catching up on some sleep. What with being a Ranger, Udonna's training, school, homework, and working at the Rock Porium, she's wiped, which is understandable," explained Madison.

Nick nodded, looking around Rootcore. If someone had told him that he would be a Power Ranger and that he would be able to do magic, he would have had them committed to the nearest insane asylum. Now, as he looked around, it still seemed all surreal. A lot had happened within the last few days. He had chosen to become a Power Ranger, he and the rest of the team had defeated their first monster, and he had made the decision to stay in Briarwood. As if she was able to read his mind, Madison brought that topic up.

"I'm glad that you decided to stay in Briarwood," she said, lowering her head so as to try to hide the blush that had crept into her cheeks. She didn't lower her head fast enough; Nick saw that her face was flushed with red. It looked cute on her. _'Slow down, Russell. What are you thinking? You barely know her. Just worry about trying to become friends with her and the rest of team, not to mention kicking evil's butt. Those are your first two priorities above everything. You can make this work. For the sake of the world, you have to make this work and become friends with these guys.' _

"I'm glad I decided to stay here too," he replied. Madison's eyes flew up to meet his, shocked.

"R-Really? What made you change your mind?" she asked.

Nick hesitated, unsure if he should tell her the truth. He decided that if he was ever going to make friends in Briarwood, he should be honest.

"A lot of things. You were one of them," he said with a smile.

Madison blushed even harder. "Me? But you seemed like you were all gung-ho and ready to leave Briarwood when I talked to you."

Nick nodded. "I was. I was leaving Briarwood, and…" Nick was unsure as to if he should tell Madison.

She could sense his hesitation, and knew that he wasn't sure if he should tell her. _'I wish that I could help him feel more comfortable here. He looks as though he's lost, it's kinda cute. Wait no, stop Maddy! Bad thoughts! You have a lot of other things to worry about, like fighting evil. Just do that and try to make Nick feel more comfortable here, help him feel like a part of the team. _"You can tell me, I won't laugh or tell anyone. I promise," she assured him.

Nick continued with his story, knowing that he could trust her. "I had what I guess you could call a vision."

"Of what?" asked Madison.

"Of you, and of the rest of the team, getting beaten by Koragg. I couldn't just stand by and let you get hurt. I had to do something, so I just turned around, found you guys in the forest, and here we are, on this quest to stop evil from dominating the world," said Nick.

"It's going to be a long and difficult quest, I know that much. But as long as we stick together as a team, we'll be just fine," she said as she smiled warmly at him.

Nick knew that Madison was right, the only question was: was he ready? Was he ready for anything and everything that they could face? To that, Nick didn't have an answer, but he knew that as long as he and his friends believed in and trusted each other, then everything would be all right in the end.

Please read and review!


	3. Dare

Dare

Author: Angel17712

Date: 12/15/06

Disclaimer: I don't own them, the show, etc.

A/N- this one is set in between Code Busters and Rock Solid. Enjoy!

Nick looked at the wall behind the counter. _'Great, four more hours of work. You can do this, Nick.' _He looked around the store to see what everyone was doing. Vida was doing her thing on the DJ tables, Madison was straightening things up, Leelee was there, looking around, and Xander and Chip were over in a corner, whispering amongst themselves. Nick shook his head. Those two were total opposites, yet they were best friends. 'Maybe there's hope for us to become friends just yet,' he mused. Nick stopped working when Xander and Chip came up to him.

"Hey, guys. What's up?" said Nick as he turned to face them.

"Chip and I have been talking," said Xander with an evil grin.

"Why does that not sound good?" said Nick worriedly.

"Don't worry, it's nothing bad, mate," Xander reassured his friend. "I just got one question for you."

"What's that?" Nick asked, his curiosity piqued.

"How daring are you?" Chip asked mischievously.

"I don't know," Nick shook his head. "I guess I'm pretty daring, seeing as how I fight soulless mutants on a day-to-day basis and I save the world. Why?" he asked with a hint of suspicion in his voice.

"Well then, our esteemed leader, Chip and I dare you to go and be nice to little miss Leelee over," said Xander as he pointed Leelee out.

Nick looked over at the blonde girl that Xander was pointing to. While Leelee was a pretty girl, Nick wasn't interested in her. _'No, you're interested in a certain Blue ranger,' he said to himself inwardly. _There was also the fact that said blonde gave him the creeps. There was just something about her that didn't quite fit. He turned back to his friends. "Are you guys crazy? She gives me the creeps."

"She's not so bad," said Chip.

Nick sighed. If he didn't do it, Xander and Chip would probably call him a wuss. And he didn't want to think about what might happen in any other situation. "So that's it? All I have to do is be nice to her? And if I do it, what do I get?"

Xander and Chip looked at each other. "What do you mean?" asked Xander.

"Well, you guys dared me to be nice to her. So if I should accept the dare and complete it, what do I get in return?" asked Nick with a grin.

Xander and Chip looked at each other once more. They hadn't discussed that, not thinking that Nick might even consider taking on their dare. "We'll come up with something," Chip recovered.

"All right, then," Nick nodded. He shook both of their hands. He turned around towards Leelee and sighed. It was now or never.

He walked up to Leelee, and after thinking it over for a minute, he tapped her on the shoulder. "What do you want? Oh, it's you," said Leelee, her tone laced with regret.

'Yeah, it's me. I just thought that I'd come over here and see how you were doing, if you needed any help," said Nick.

"Oh, thanks. I'm doing great, and thanks for the offer to help, but I'm good," Leelee winked at him suggestively.

Nick inwardly cringed. If he didn't do something soon, this would quickly turn the wrong way. He definitely did not need that happening.

"So anyway, I was wondering if you might want to go out sometime," asked Leelee.

"Umm, no thanks. I'm not really interested in anyone right now," he said. _'I am interested in someone, you're just not her.' _Nick spied said girl nearby, rearranging the music and cleaning things up. Nick caught Madison's eyes and mouthed 'Help me!' Madison looked at him and smiled, shaking her head. Chip and Xander observed from afar, stifling their laughs.

"Ohh, ok," said Leelee, looking a little crestfallen. She heard her favorite song come on over the speaker system. "I love this song! Hey Nick, do you want to-"

Madison knew that Leelee was going to ask Nick to dance before she did it. She quickly walked over to the pair, stopping anything before it could happen. "Hey Nick, do you want to dance?" asked Madison.

Nick sighed inwardly with relief. "Okay, sure. Thanks." He turned to Leelee and said with as much regret in his voice as he could muster, "Maybe some other time, Leelee."

The blonde girl stalked off and stood furiously in a corner. Nick sighed. "So, shall we?" he asked, holding out his hand to take one of Madison's. Madison looked around and saw that they had a small audience of their friends and Leelee.

"Sure." Maddy placed her hand in Nick's and put her right hand on his left shoulder. He reciprocated the movement by taking her hand and placing his left hand on her right hip. They danced together, both of them feeling as if they were the only two people in the room, but neither of them said a word, both just enjoying the moment.

"We could dance closer together if you want," said Nick.

"Are you sure?" asked Maddy. "We don't have to if you don't want to," she said, unsure of herself. Dancing closely together was something that lovers did, not friends.

"Yes, I'm sure. I want to," he said strongly. Maddy nodded and they both moved closer together. She put her arms around his neck and he put both of his hands around her, with them resting on her lower back. They swayed together, just enjoying the moment.

"Thanks for the help," Nick whispered in her ear. "But why did you decide to help? I thought you weren't going to."

"I wasn't going to, but then I saw that Leelee was going to ask you to dance, so I decided that it was time to help, so I did," Madison whispered back. _'I didn't want you dancing with Leelee, and I wanted to dance with you.'_

Nick smiled. "Well, I'm glad that you did. I would have danced with you before Leelee any dad. And, I kind of wanted to dance with you," he admitted with a bit of a blush in his cheeks.

Madison looked up at him in surprise. "Me, too," she said, as her face was covered in red.

"Maybe we can do this again sometime soon," said Nick, hinting that he wanted to dance with Madison again.

"Maybe," said Madison. She didn't know if they would actually dance together again, but she knew that she wanted to more than anything. She had felt as if they were the only two people in the room, and she had never felt safer than when she was in his arms. She was glad that it all happened just because of a dare.

A/N- Thank you to all those who have read and reviewed! Keep them coming and I will too! (grins evilly)


	4. Guilt

Guilt

Author: angel17712

Date: 12/21/06

A/N- this is set right after Rock Solid. Thanks SO much to Pink-Green-White-4ever for editing this! You're awesome!

Enjoy!

Nick's POV

It's been two days since we last talked. Two days since I said words that have continued to eat at me. Since then, I've tried to apologize and she brushed it away as though my words made no difference. I think, on some subconscious level, we've been avoiding each other. Neither of us wants to have the conversation that we need to have about the things that I said to her. After an argument that we had a few days ago, Maddy got turned into a statue. She'd stormed out of the record shop, as though the devil himself was chasing her. She had been walking around and happened to find herself in the same place as a monster that had been sent to terrorize the city. Once she was free, I was relieved to see her back to normal, but since then, I've had this building sense of guilt over what happened; I've been feeling that if it hadn't been for me, she wouldn't have gone off and been turned to stone. I know that I need to talk to her and let her know that I'm truly sorry. If anything, I need to talk to her in order to rid myself of the guilt that's eating me whole. The words that I said to her still ring through my head as clearly as if I were saying them now.

"_Gotcha," her voice rang gleefully._

"_Oh, no, get that thing away from me."_

"_Come on, Nick, don't be shy."_

"_Me? I'm not the one who's always hiding behind that camera," I shot back at her._

"_I'm not hiding," she justified as she closed it._

"_I've watched you, Madison," I told her. "You're so busy filming everyone else that you never get out there and have fun yourself."_

"_I have fun," she said as she backpedaled away from me._

"_Yeah?"_

"_Yeah," she replied._

"_When's the last time you went out there and did something different, something spontaneous?" I asked her as I tossed an orange at her, trying to get the ball rolling._

"_Spontaneous? Okay. Yesterday, I went to buy toothpaste. I always buy peppermint, and I thought, 'No, I'm gonna do something different, and I bought wintergreen."_

"_Wintergreen?" I asked her incredulously._

"_Yeah, I—wintergreen," she said, trying to convince herself._

"_You're a wild woman, all right. Whoo! She's a wild one!" I exclaimed as I exited the office._

"_Hey, hey, hey. It just so happens that defending the world takes most of my free time."_

"_Uh-huh. That's just an excuse, admit it: you're too shy to put it out there," I harshly told her._

Thinking back on it now, I hate that I said those things to her. She replied the way she did because she wanted me off her case; my words might have been harsh, but they were still the truth. I look over at Maddy and watch her work. It's never occurred to me how much I watch her. She doesn't seem like her usual self; it's as though she's lost whatever it is that makes her Maddy. I sigh, knowing that it's probably my fault that she's feeling like that. Before I made up my mind to talk to her, Vida came over to me.

"Hey, I need you to do a favor for me," Vida requested.

"Okay, what?"

"I need you to go and talk to Maddy. Something's up with her and I don't know what it is. She's been like this for a while now and I'm starting to get worried about her," Vida confided.

I already knew what it was that was bothering Madison, but I nodded to Vida, letting her know that I would talk to her. As I started the walk over to where Madison was working, my legs felt like lead. Time seemed to slow down, and with it, my nerves seemed to be out of control. _'Come on, Russell. You can do this, you have to.'_ The closer I got to her, the more my courage seemed to grow. I reached my destination and with a deep breath, I tapped Madison on the shoulder.

She jumped slightly and turned around to see who it was who had scared her. "N-Nick, hey; how are you?" she asked me shakily. I could tell that she was just as nervous as I was, if not more so.

"I'm good, and you?"

"I'm doing fine, just great. Need anything?" she questioned, hoping to get rid of me.

"Yeah, actually I was wondering if I could talk to you for a minute alone. It's kind of important," I told her. I motioned towards Toby's office, and she nodded her head yes, following after me. I closed the door behind her and took a breath to calm myself down.

"Listen Maddy, I've got something that I need to tell you, but I want you to promise me that you won't say anything until I'm done, okay?"

"Okay," she answered.

"I want to apologize for everything that's happened. No, don't even start to tell me that I don't need to," I cut her off when I saw her trying to stop me. "I need to do this. I'm sorry for what I said a few days ago when we were working. It was stupid of me to say that, cruel and completely rude. If I hadn't said what I did, you wouldn't have left here and gotten yourself turned into a stone statue. I shouldn't have done that, and I'm sorry."

Madison shook her head vigorously. "No, it wasn't cruel. Yes, what you said was harsh, but I needed to hear it. It wasn't your fault that I got turned into a statue, Nick. I forgive you. It could have happened to any of us. As much as I hate to admit it, you were right about me, Nick. I'm an extremely shy person, but it's a part of who I am. In a way, I needed to hear that. I never want you to not be honest with me because you're afraid that you might hurt me, okay?" she murmured.

I looked into her eyes, and I could see all different feelings in them: pain, regret, love. I could see that spark that was such a big part of her coming back slowly. She would be all right; she wasn't angry with me, she only wanted the truth from me. "Okay, I promise. I'll always be honest with you."

She flashed me a grin, and I couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief. The guilt from what I had said was still there, but it was starting to ebb away, slowly but surely. Maddy was starting to act and sound like Maddy again, and she accepted my apology. Maybe if Maddy can get over the harshness of my words and forgive me, I can get over feeling guilty for something that I helped cause but didn't have any control over.


	5. Reaction

Reaction

Author: angel17712

Date: 12/29/06

A/N- sorry that it's taken so long guys! College is starting back up, so I'm not sure as to how often I'll get to update, but I'll try to do so fairly frequently. Enjoy!

Nick's POV

I can't believe that they could say that I stole money from Toby! They'd somehow misplaced it, so they blamed the one person that they couldn't really trust-me. They surrounded me and I felt as though I was being put on trial for something that I didn't even do. I was waiting to hear them condemn me and it never came. I looked at Madison, wondering how she could be accusing me of this. All of a sudden, it didn't matter. I hadn't done anything wrong, and yet, they were calling in for a verdict. Having Koragg's voice in my head didn't help matters any either. That only served to make me believe that they didn't trust me, but that they couldn't be trusted either. What kind of friends do that? I know that I sure don't place blame on people that I barely know. After everything happened, we finally cleared the air and apologized to each other. Madison looked at me with tears in her eyes, and I knew that they were sorry for accusing me.

Madison's POV

When Xander first told me that he thought that Nick had stolen the money from the record shop, my first instinct was to defend him and ask Xander how he could just go and accuse Nick like that. Nick had never given us any reason to think that he would steal anything from anyone, much less a thousand dollars from Toby. I didn't even want to be a part of Xander's jury that was trying to incriminate Nick, but even as Xander explained his reasoning, there was a large part of me that knew that Nick would never do that. Vida, Chip and Xander had looked at me, wanting my support in this. Instead of saying _'How can you do that to Nick? He's our friend, and you're so quick to place the blame on him when you only think that he might have stolen the money!'_ , I didn't say a word and let myself be pulled into their jury. When I explained the situation to Nick about how they believed that he had stolen the money, I knew that I would never forget the look of betrayal that crossed his face as he stared at us. Xander said that Nick didn't even try to deny what we had accused him of, but why should he have? He wasn't guilty; he was one hundred percent innocent. After we found out from Toby that he had found the money, I felt relief beyond anything. Although I had been in Xander's "jury", I was right about thinking that Nick hadn't stolen the money. We said our apologies to each other as a group, but I needed to talk to him privately, if anything to make my conscience leave me alone.

Author's POV

Madison stuck her hands in her pockets and took a deep breath before crossing the street to where Nick was fixing his motorcycle. She hated confrontations, but she knew that they needed to talk this over. "Hey."

Nick stopped what he was doing to look up and see Madison standing there. A feeling of nostalgia swept over Nick as he remembered back to when they had talked to each other alone for the first time. "Hey. Is everything going all right at the shop? No more missing money?"

Madison cringed at his words, knowing that he needed to vent his frustration at having been accused. "No, there's no more missing money. About that, listen; I owe you an apology."

"An apology? What for?" Nick questioned.

"There was a big part of me that didn't think that you'd stolen the money, but Xander and the rest of them approached me. So rather than defend you, I went along with what they thought, and for that, I'm sorry."

Nick stood up and looked into Madison's eyes, seeing them filled with shame and regret. He sighed, knowing that it was his turn. "I owe you an apology. I should have defended myself instead of running away from my problems, and I should have told you guys that I was hearing Koragg talk to me."

"So you're sorry, and I'm sorry. Are we okay now, or is there more?" Madison chuckled slightly.

Nick laughed, knowing what she meant. "No, I think we're good."

"Good," Madison nodded her head. She turned to head back to the record shop before turning to face him. "Hey, Nick?"

"Yeah, Madison?"

"Just talk to us about something the next time it's bothering you, okay?"

Nick smiled at her. "You can count on it."

Madison smiled back at him and kept walking. For now, everything was all right between the two of them and the rest of the team. Hopefully, the next time there was a problem, instead of everyone having the wrong reaction, they would discuss it and figure out what was going on.


	6. Moonlight

Moonlight

Author-Angel17712

Last Revised- 8/8/07

A/N- For all of those who reviewed the last chapter, thank you so much! I am so sorry to all of you who have read this and were wanting an update. Thanks to Kim and Enigmaforum, for being my testers! Love ya both!

* * *

Nick rubbed his eyes after he awoke from a nap. He looked around in confusion to find that Rootcore was all too quiet. Usually, there was at least one person around to talk to or practice with. He looked at the watch on his wrist and grimaced slightly at the late time. _'10:30 at night. No wonder there's no one here. They're all either asleep or out for the night.'_ Nick walked through the entire tree, only to find that Clare and Udonna were there and busy with their own activities. He walked to the entrance of Rootcore, and exited via the Dragon's mouth. It was still early enough to where he could head to the Rock Porium to hang with the gang, but before he could head off in that direction, he heard a faint splash from off in the distance. He snapped his head in to his left, trying to hear the sound and only hearing the quiet noise of crickets. He decided he was just hearing things and set off down the path. Before he got very far, he heard another splash and knew that he wasn't hearing things. He walked off of the path and followed the sound of the noise. The closer he got to the noise, the louder it became. When he reached a small clearing, he was surprised at what he saw. He had thought that he would find Phineas there. Instead, it was Madison. 

Madison waved her wand slowly over the water, practicing with her powers. In the beginning, she hadn't been so sure about using her powers. She had quickly come to the realization that her powers would only hurt those who she wanted them to hurt; she learned that she could control them. The thought that she could command and control such a power frightened her. She was used to being the quiet sister of Vida Rocca, and now she was a Power Ranger with three of her closest friends and a new one. As her thoughts strayed to Nick, the water that Madison was near would contort itself into various shapes: a heart, a swan, a batch of roses. When Madison caught sight of the last one, she shook her hand and waved her wand as though cleaning off a blackboard. Rather than use her wand, she tried once again to contort the water to her will, this time using only her hand. The water rose and nearly contorted entirely to the shape that she willed it to be when it seemed to refuse. The water fell back into the pond, creating a splash.

Nick watched silently from where he stood, thankful for the cover that was provided by the bushes. He was standing behind her but off to the side, making it somewhat easy for him to see her face. The moon was bright tonight, highlighting her face and features. Her face changed with whatever happened: when she was trying to will the water to become something, her face was laced with concentration and determination. When the water did bend to her will, her face held a look of happiness that made him wish that he could be the one to put it there, but whenever the water didn't bend to her will, her face became sad and upset, as though she was disappointed in herself. Nick continued to watch her in silence, unaware that she even knew that he was there, until she said something about it.

"You can come out now, you know. You've been standing there now for the last ten minutes."

Nick winced, realizing he was caught. He stepped out from behind the bushes, holding his hands up in peace. "Sorry, it was just nice to watch you do that, practicing with your powers and not being afraid to do it."

She blushed a crimson color and ducked her head, hoping that he hadn't seen her blush. He had seen her blush. The moonlight caught on her eyes, making them sparkle brightly. "Thanks," she told him shyly.

Nick nodded his head in return, silent for several moments before something came to mind. "I saw you trying to form several shapes and have them spin in opposite directions several times, but it never worked. Do you want some help working on it?"

Madison bit her lip as she considered her choices. Having him help her with that would mean that she would have to be close to him, and she wasn't sure if she could take that. She remembered what he had told her a few weeks before about being spontaneous. _'It would be a start,'_ she thought. She looked at his face and was somewhat shocked by the look on his face. He looked hopeful, as though he wanted to teach her, but the moonlight also made it easier for her to see the apprehensiveness that his eyes held. He wasn't sure if she would say yes either. Before answering him, she took a deep breath to calm her nerves.

"All right, then. Teach me what I need to know." Her answer had clearly shocked him, it was written all over his face. After a few seconds, he shook his head slightly before nodding.

"Okay, I'm just going to give you some pointers, not necessarily teach you. I'm not that good with magic yet," Nick chuckled as he moved to stand in front of her. He gently moved her arm and body to point the ways and directions that he wanted them in. "It isn't all about waving a wand; it takes a lot of concentration and determination to pull off something like that, and a lot of willpower."

"Okay," Madison replied seriously. She watched his face as he talked, telling her what to do and correcting her. His face was passionate and lit up, and she didn't need for the moon to be very bright to tell her that he was enjoying being the one to teach her how to do this.

He moved her arm again gently, putting it back where it had been before. When he turned back to face her, he noticed something that made him both happy and gave him the slight desire to squirm: her face was right in front of his, putting them nose to nose. If he leaned forward any further, his lips would be touching hers, and that was what he was conflicted about. He had felt the attraction that was between them the moment that they had met, but he hadn't acted on it for many reasons, the main being that he wasn't sure what would happen with both of them being on a team together as Rangers. With that last thought in mind, he swallowed hard before speaking softly.

"Um, yeah. So just keep your arm like that and try not to move it. Now whether or not the water does what you want will depend on the force of will that you put behind it. If it's not strong enough, the water will just go back to it's previous shape, but if your will is strong enough, the water will change to that shape and do what you want it to. You just have to think about the shape that you want it to take, believe that you can do it, and put a strong enough will behind it."

Madison took a shaky breath, trying to calm her nerves for what had just happened and for what she was about to do. She waved her hand slightly over the water, the shapes coming instantly to mind and which directions she wanted them to turn in. It took her several tries, and with each try, she became more determined to make it happen and put more will behind her thoughts. On the fifth try, she was able to get the water to assume simple shapes like a star and a triangle, and she made both spin in opposite directions. When it happened, her mouth dropped open. Nick didn't need the light that was coming from the moon to tell him that she was excited, happy or shocked that she had managed to do it. Madison managed to hold the shapes for several moments before the water fell back into the pond, creating ripples. Madison turned to Nick with a smile on her face.

"Thank you," she told him.

"For what?" he asked, the confusion evident in his voice.

"For teaching me to do that. You're the first person, other than Udonna, who's really tried to help me understand something."

"It wasn't a big deal," he replied, bowing his head to hide his red cheeks.

Madison smiled, having caught his blushed cheeks. She looked up at the moon and decided that practicing at night, under the light of the moon, was a good thing. After all, it wasn't every day that you came close to kissing someone, only to find out that the person liked you just as much as you liked them.


	7. Dream

Dream

Author-Angel17712

Last Revised- 10/3/2007

A/N- I meant to put this in the last chapter. Moonlight is set between Whispering Voices and Legendary Catastros. This one takes place immediately right after, before the start of Legendary Catastros. I'm sorry that it's been awhile; classes have started back up and they're evil! Hope everyone enjoys this!

_

* * *

__They were all exhausted. Madison lay on the ground with the others while Nick charged towards Koragg. Madison had lost track of how long they had been fighting him. Nick had taken him on, both of them landing hits to their opponent. She knew that he was getting tired; she could see it from his stance. Koragg managed to land a blow to Nick's chest that sent him soaring through the air, only to crash to the ground in a heap. She struggled to get up and go over to him to help him, but her strength was completely gone. She watched helplessly as Koragg moved to stand over Nick._

"_I'll finally be rid of you Rangers, starting with you. The Master will reward me well." Koragg pulled his sword back to deliver the crushing blow._

"_NO!!"_

Madison shot straight up in her bed, her breathing erratic and uneven. Sweat was caked upon her brow, the sheets like a vice grip upon her body. Madison closed her eyes, shaking her head in an attempt to banish the images from her mind, but it was of no use. It was as though they'd been cemented into her mind. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Koragg, delivering that final blow to Nick that she was helpless to stop. She untangled her body from her sheets as she sat up. She glanced at her sister, who laid sleeping peacefully. She stood up as she shook her head and walked to the bathroom that they shared. After she shut the door softly behind her, she splashed some water on her face, trying to get rid of the tear stains that were on her cheeks. She braced her palms against the sink, trying to quell the images that came into her mind. They felt so real, they shocked her to the core, making her feel as though it had just happened. She shivered in response, silently hoping that that would never happen to him. She couldn't help but wonder if he was getting a good night's sleep, or if he too was being plagued by horrendous dreams.

* * *

Elsewhere, Nick was having just as hard of a time sleeping as Madison was. His first dream had been of him riding Catastros in a place that he had never been, the horse throwing him off of it's back. Before he crashed to the ground in his dream, he jolted awake, his body covered in sweat and his heart was pounding so hard that he felt like it was going to burst out of his chest. After running his hands through his hair and telling himself firmly that it was only a dream, he lay back down and after much tossing and turning, managed to fall asleep and found that he was once again plagued with dreams. Rather than dreaming of being thrown off of a horse, he dreamt of something that would stay with him for weeks to come.

"_AAH!"_

_Madison's scream caused Nick to look up with fear. Styxoids had been attacking her from all directions, and a combination of a missed kick and a punch from two of them had sent her nearly tumbling over the edge of a cliff; thankfully, she managed to grab onto the edge with one hand before she fell._

"_Maddy! Hang on, I'm coming!" Nick yelled as he tried to fight his way through them all. In his haste, a Hidiac landed a kick to his chest before sweeping his legs out from underneath of him, making him land on his chest in time to see Madison's hand slip. A scream tore from her throat. _

"_MADDY!"_

Nick's eyes flew open as his breathing was heavy; he looked around his room wildly, only partly relaxing when he saw that he was still in his room. He knew that it had all just been a dream, but that didn't make him stop from thinking that it was real. It had all felt so real; the fight, her screams. He shook his head, trying to rid it of the horrible thoughts. He looked at the clock on his nightstand and saw that it was nearly four in the morning. _'Just wait a few more hours and you'll be able to make sure she's okay. You can do this.'_ He relaxed as much as possible, falling again into a fitful sleep.

Later that Saturday morning, Nick woke up and quickly got ready for work. He made it to the record shop in record time, knowing that Maddy was going to be getting there early as well. He needed a minute alone with her just to make sure that she was okay. Just as he arrived at the store, she came walking around the corner.

"Hey you," she greeted.

"Hey. Morning," he replied as he opened the door for her. She smiled gratefully at him as she brushed by him to enter the store. He entered the shop behind her, closing the door with a click. He took a deep breath before deciding to ask her what he'd wanted to ask her for the last several hours.

"Hey, Maddy?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you okay?" Nick asked.

"What do you mean?" she asked as she walked toward him. "Did something happen or…?"

"No, no. I just….I just wanted to make sure that you were okay, that's all," Nick explained as he pasted a false smile on his face.

Madison folded her arms. While she hadn't known him for a long time, she knew him well enough to tell when he wasn't being honest with her. "Nick, you can tell me what's wrong. I won't laugh or anything, I promise," she told him in a calm voice.

Nick turned away from her, knowing that she was going to get it out of him one way or another. He turned away from her, trying to form the words in his head. "I had a dream last night, and it kinda freaked me out."

"What was it about?"

"You. We were in the middle of a big fight, and you almost went over the edge of a cliff, but you managed to catch yourself. I tried as hard as I could to get to you, but…" he broke off, his breathing shallow.

Madison took in a deep breath, understanding what was running through his head. Even though it had been only a dream, she knew that he still felt guilty that he hadn't been able to save her. She walked around him to face him and was surprised to see the display of emotions on his face: fear was clearly all over his face, as well as defeat. Without even thinking about it, she gently pulled him into a hug and was shocked when she felt his strong arms wrap around her in reciprocation.

Her calming voice whispered gently to him that everything was okay, that she was just fine and still there. He felt himself shake as he held her. The front door banged open and the two jumped apart as if they had been electrocuted. Xander walked up to them with a grin on his face.

"Morning, you two. Anyone else here yet?" he asked casually, not missing the looks that the two were giving each other.

"Nope, it's just the three of us for now," Nick replied with a slight amount of annoyance.

"Cool. I'm gonna go and clock in," he told them as he walked away.

"You better now?" Madison asked.

"Yeah, I think I'll be okay. Thanks," Nick whispered as he started to walk away.

"Hey, Nick?"

"Yeah?" he asked as he turned to face her.

"If it helps, I had a dream like yours. We were fighting Koragg and I wasn't able to stop him from…" Madison cut herself off, not wanting to say it. Saying it would somehow make it seem real, like it could happen, and that was something that she would never let happen to him.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he queried lowly as he walked over to her.

"Because, you needed that more than I did just now. Besides, I'll be fine. You're fine, and so am I. There's no reason for either of us to worry, right?" she asked.

Nick let out a deep breath. "Yeah, sure." Nick watched her walk away as his dreams came back to the front of his mind. Now, one of the dreams was solved, but the other was still a mystery. He pinched the bridge of his nose as he sighed heavily. He opened his eyes and saw that there was plenty to do. He would have plenty of time later to worry about that dream; right now, he had to work.


End file.
